Folding chair



Feb. 23, 1937. 1 c. TRAVERS Er AL FOLDING CHAIR Filed Feb. 7, 1954 2Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FOLDING CHAIR L. C. TRAVERS ET Al.

Filed Feb. 7, 19:5l1

Feb. 23, 1937. v

.Pasantes ret.- 23, i531 UNITED .STATES- PATENT .orrlcs sommo. cnamLewis C. Travers and George L. Morris, Gardner,

`Mains., assignors to Calvin srGreenwood, ,Gardner, Mass.

,application Februar-y1, 1934, seriaiNo. '110,094V

'com (ci. 155-117) v provide in combination with a seat and back piv-l,otally connected and movable together topositionsin which the baci:assumes different angles to the horizontal and which backcan be movedfully to horizontal position; a supporting means vin theform of frontand back legs which do not cross each .other but which are provided'with connections by which they can be held in their upstanding positionswithout danger of collapsing; and with 4no probability of pinching the'finger; to provide arearwardly folding support- 'ing structure, foldableinto a small compass, and to provide a structure .having .all the 'abovementioned features which can be folded, without the `troubleofdisconnecting any parts, in a length which/is muchlessthan has beenthe case heretofore' and in fact so short that it can be placedcrossways in an ordinary automobile behind the front seat fortransportation. l

' Other objects and advantages of theinven.- tion will appearhereinafter. Reference is to; be had to the accompanying drawingainwhich Fig. -1 is a front View of a chair constructed' in accordance withthis invention;

Fig. 2 is'a side view of the same;`l

Fig. 3 is a plan asindicated by thev arrow 3 in Fig. 4 is a side viewAshowing the back moved forward for folding: Fig. 5 is a sideviewshowing the parts folded intoasmallconipasspl Fig. 6 is asectionalview on the line 6`'6 of Fig. 2 Ashowing the frictional arrangement forholdingthe chair in its adjusted position, and Fig. 'l is a sectionalview on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, showing -howthe other pivots are made.

' Chairs of the above mentioned character are generally made of a ratherlight construction and thevback Yand seat are connected together 45.while the supporting parts are usually made of cross legs `whichrestrict the fdlding of the whole chair and necessitate its-ocupation ofa considerable length when the chair is folded.

" As people carry these chairs back and forth. from 5o beaches inautomobiles, it*is desirable to have a chair of this kind which can foldup into such compass that the length of the chair, when `folded, is lessthan the width f an automobile so that it can be transported standingvup on 55 .it'sedge behind the front seat of the car.

cidently.

J also pass I the pivots 23 .as well as above them and has a seat25-pivoted to it by pivots 26. -Alsosimilar f pivots 26' are used topivot this seat to a pair links 21 yand leg frame lll from the armpieces 4nuts 3| are tightened up right against a washer This isaccomplished in this case by means of a particular type of framestructurecomprising connected leg frames, one at each side of the chair.These leg frames include a pair of front legs lll, a pair of rear propmembers Il, a 5 pair of rear legs l2 and brace barsor members I3. Therear legs |2vare pivoted to the from'.

'legs I0 atA the upper extremities of the latter and extend diagonallyrearwardly and downwardly and are connected to the bottoms ofthe propmembers Il. by pivot links l5. The brace bars i3 -are nearlyhorizontal-and are pivoted at their opposite ends respectively to thefront legs I0 and prop members -I l. The prop members Il are providedwith outwardly projected l5 wooden pins I6 which rest on the rear legsl2 when the chair is'set up and securelyA hold the latter in positionand prevent its folding ac- The leg frames are pivoted at their upperends to substantially horizontalarm piecesA Il. On top o f the armpieces I4' are located the arms 2| of the chair. The front legs IQ. arepivoted to the arm pieces I4 by pivots 22 and the-prop members Il arepivoted thereto by pivots 23. These' pivots 23 are made of long boltswhich through and pivot the sides of. the back 2l of the cliair.A Thisback extends below of .links 21 which in turn are pivoted to the armpiece-` Il by the pivots 22. The pivots 26 are of .a general charactershown in'Fig. 7, this figure showing the pivot 26. The pivot stud 22, itwill be understood, isfsimilar only longer because it has to go throughthe leg frame l0. These are ordinary free working pivot studs or rivetspreferably having metal washers 29 to space the and allow free motion. fThe pivot bolts 26 are intended for a purpose additional to the freepivoting' of the parts.

These bolts are uted, as shown at 30, and the so that they'aire tightly`held together and the fluting'prevents the turning of this pivot -boltin the seat 25. Therefore, the bolt can be tightened up sufficiently soas to supplya desired degree of friction to the lparts' and cannot turn,so as to loosen in the nut, through continual movement of the back.Consequently, when in use, the de.- sired'amount of friction can bemaintained and the back can be placed at any 4desired angle and it willnot be forced out of that position unless 55 considerable pressure isapplied to it. In other Words, on account of this construction, the usercan set the chair in a desired position and he will not be likely towork it into a different position by any ordinary motion which he maymake while sitting. Nevertheless it is perfectly easy to change it toany vother angular 'position merely by the application of a suiiicientamount of force.

It will be noted that when the back is adjusted to the desiredinclination, the seat is maintained in a plane parallel to itself, orthe seat will not tilt or become misaligned with respect to the armrests. In order to best obtain this advantage as to seating comfort andstill provide for a compact fold, it is preferred that the links 2lbetween their respective pivot points be of substantially the samelength as the lower suspension portions of the back rest side rails 24between the pivot points of the latter, and also' that the distancesbetween thepivotal connections of the seat frame and arm rest membersrespectively 4be equal, so that the parts dene asubstantiallyparallelogram-shaped l structure pivoted at its corners.

When it is desired to fold the chair, the back is turned forwardly allthe way around through an arc of from its vertical position and, asshown in Fig. 5, the whole chair when folded will occupy a position ofonly a few inches longer than the back itself. It is made preferably sothat the upper end of the back will fold beyond the space normallylocated above the cross bar I2. This folding operation is fully shown inFig.l 5. It need notbe described in full. The folded chair occupies avery small space and its thickness is not excessive. It can be stoodupon edge in the space behind the front seat of an automobile. By thismethod of construction and foldingthere is no danger of the chairfolding up accidentally and allowing the occupant to drop to theoor.

It will be seen also that the back can be turned over to substantially ahorizontal position and there is no danger of its folding up by anyshifting of the weight of its occupant.

The chair is provided with a strong canvas seat `34extendingtransversely across it and vbound around the side members ofthe seat. Also there is a strip of canvas 35 extending 4along the seatand secured to the canvas 34 by cross stitching 36. It extends to theextreme rear thereof and up the back to the top thereof around which itpasses and to which it is fastened'. A heavy canvas piece 31 is securedacross the back near the bottom thereof to furnish a more rigid supportfor the small of the back. At the bottom of the back is a bent strip 40to complete the back frame and to permit the canvas in the seat to Asagconsiderably before it interferes with the comfort of the occupant whenthe chair is in horizontal position. It will be seen, therefore, thatthe whole chair can be folded into v ery small compass lengthwise andthat the back and seat are frictionally held in any adjusted positionunless moved therefrom by some force greater than that usually providedby the motions of the body of the occupant.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise thanas set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:-

1. A folding chair comprising connected leg frames, one at each side ofthe chair, each leg frame having foldable front and rear legs pivotallyconnected at the front of the chair, arm rest membersv pivotallyconnected to the leg frames, a back pivotally connected to the arm restmembers at the rear ends of the latter, a. seat pivoted at the rearthereof to the lower extremity Vof the back, movable prop means betweenthe back and leg frames when the chair is set up, bracing means fbetween the front and rear legs, and vmeans movably supporting the frontof the seat in a manner to provide for adjustment of the seat and backof the chair to different positions of use, said means includingsuspension links connecting the forward portions of the seat and the armrest members, said links together with the lower extremity of the back,the arm rest members, and seat frame defining a substantiallyparallelogramshaped structure pivoted at its corners.

2. A folding chair comprising front and rear legs, the rear leg beingpivoted at the front leg adjacent the upper extremity of the latter, armrest members pivotally connected to the upper ends of the front legs, aseat, a back rest frame having-side rails pivotally connected to therear ends of the arm rest members and extending` downwardly andpivotally connected at their loWer ends to the seat, prop members at thesides of the chair pivotally connecting the arm rest members and theback rest side rails and extending downwardly and adapted to besupported by the rear legs when the chair is set up, bracing meansbetween the front and rear legs, and means

